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Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages
Since their discovery more than 100 years ago, the viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) have been widely studied as model systems. Largely overlooked, however, have been “jumbo phages,” with genome sizes ranging from 200 to 500 kbp. Jumbo phages generally have large virions with complex str...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7950403/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32868402 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00362-20 |
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author | Guan, Jingwen Bondy-Denomy, Joseph |
author_facet | Guan, Jingwen Bondy-Denomy, Joseph |
author_sort | Guan, Jingwen |
collection | PubMed |
description | Since their discovery more than 100 years ago, the viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) have been widely studied as model systems. Largely overlooked, however, have been “jumbo phages,” with genome sizes ranging from 200 to 500 kbp. Jumbo phages generally have large virions with complex structures and a broad host spectrum. While the majority of jumbo phage genes are poorly functionally characterized, recent work has discovered many unique biological features, including a conserved tubulin homolog that coordinates a proteinaceous nucleus-like compartment that houses and segregates phage DNA. The tubulin spindle displays dynamic instability and centers the phage nucleus within the bacterial host during phage infection for optimal reproduction. The shell provides robust physical protection for the enclosed phage genomes against attack from DNA-targeting bacterial immune systems, thereby endowing jumbo phages with broad resistance. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge of the cytoskeletal elements and the specialized nuclear compartment derived from jumbo phages, and we highlight their importance in facilitating spatial and temporal organization over the viral life cycle. Additionally, we discuss the evolutionary relationships between jumbo phages and eukaryotic viruses, as well as the therapeutic potential and drawbacks of jumbo phages as antimicrobial agents in phage therapy. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7950403 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79504032021-04-20 Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages Guan, Jingwen Bondy-Denomy, Joseph J Bacteriol Minireview Since their discovery more than 100 years ago, the viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) have been widely studied as model systems. Largely overlooked, however, have been “jumbo phages,” with genome sizes ranging from 200 to 500 kbp. Jumbo phages generally have large virions with complex structures and a broad host spectrum. While the majority of jumbo phage genes are poorly functionally characterized, recent work has discovered many unique biological features, including a conserved tubulin homolog that coordinates a proteinaceous nucleus-like compartment that houses and segregates phage DNA. The tubulin spindle displays dynamic instability and centers the phage nucleus within the bacterial host during phage infection for optimal reproduction. The shell provides robust physical protection for the enclosed phage genomes against attack from DNA-targeting bacterial immune systems, thereby endowing jumbo phages with broad resistance. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge of the cytoskeletal elements and the specialized nuclear compartment derived from jumbo phages, and we highlight their importance in facilitating spatial and temporal organization over the viral life cycle. Additionally, we discuss the evolutionary relationships between jumbo phages and eukaryotic viruses, as well as the therapeutic potential and drawbacks of jumbo phages as antimicrobial agents in phage therapy. American Society for Microbiology 2020-12-18 /pmc/articles/PMC7950403/ /pubmed/32868402 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00362-20 Text en Copyright © 2020 Guan and Bondy-Denomy. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Minireview Guan, Jingwen Bondy-Denomy, Joseph Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title | Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title_full | Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title_fullStr | Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title_full_unstemmed | Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title_short | Intracellular Organization by Jumbo Bacteriophages |
title_sort | intracellular organization by jumbo bacteriophages |
topic | Minireview |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7950403/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32868402 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00362-20 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT guanjingwen intracellularorganizationbyjumbobacteriophages AT bondydenomyjoseph intracellularorganizationbyjumbobacteriophages |